DIY Welding positioners

[chip]

Morning
I've been knocking up a welding positioner,its not pretty,I'm still undecided on whether to go with the worm gear on the side for positioning or..if i use it then i wont need those bearing blocks in the image as the shaft would need to be fixed, Or i could just manually position it and lock it off doing away with the worm gear so that's where i am.
Feel free to throw up anything you've made or maybe you use a commercial job.

 

[zzr1200]

I used a quadrant set at 15 degrees (page 2)

www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/rotary-powered-welding-table-build.79338/

 

[hotponyshoes]

Worm gears lock in position when power is removed. (I'm sure you know), that's a blessing and a curse.

Say I'm joining 2 tubes, I'd align them in a jig and put 4 tacks 90⁰ apart.
I'd then mount in the rotator and spin it around to make sure it's parrallel.
If I want to grind the tacks down before welding I either need to remember to do that before mounting it or rotate the piece 90⁰ 4 times.

A free-wheel option would be good for that. It would also be handy for mounting stuff so you could quickly rotate it to get the mounting clamps/bolts closest to you.

Mine has a foot pedal, that controls the speed, from off, then from slow to fast (much like a tig foot pedal)

It's tedious to use, especially if you are trying to use a tig foot pedal at the same time!

One mod I have made is add a potimemeter into the controller box. That limits the maximum speed so you can start the arc stationary, start moving slowly then once the puddle is running hold the foot pedal right down at the speed you set.

Mods I would like to do (if I had the time and the intelligence)

Some sort of over-ride switch, so moving the pedal to any position made it run at the speed set on the controller.
Maybe add some sort of slow-start / ramp-up switch.

Some sort of full speed 'positioning' mode.
I thought maybe something clever like 2 quick taps on the pedal could change it from normal (restricted maximum speed) mode to full range mode. So I could quickly rotate using the pedal without having to touch anything on the controller.
I did think an easy way to do this would be to add an extra switch under the 'off position of the foot pedal. So the pedal rests on the switch when not being used but pushing it further to the off position would click the switch and change the mode. Some lights on the controller to show what mode its in would be good.
Maybe also use the switch for a reverse. If you mess the weld up might be handy to stop and go back a bit!

Some sort of 'indexing' mode.
Say I wanted to weld up a box. It would be nice to mount it, Weld one side while it's stationary, tap the pedal once and have it rotate 90⁰ for the next side.
Ideally, (to avoid distortion) I would weld one side, then tap, have it rotate 180⁰ , tap again, rotate 90⁰, tap again, rotate 180⁰.
No idea how to do that.

Maybe also a selection of indexing modes, so I could weld hexagon shapes or whatever.

I've also toyed with the idea of connecting the rotator and a welder together. Would certainly be easy to join in the torch trigger switch. Would be more useful if one pedal controlled the rotator speed and the welder power. Should be easy enough to assemble although you'd need some sort of way of controlling speed relative to weld current relative to material thickness. Sort of like a synergic rotator?

I have got a welder with a remote controll interface but I've not looked into it.

Another thought I had was use a welding torch with a pot in the handle and use that pot to control the rotator speed. Maybe an extra torch button to start/stop the rotator.

 

[chip]

I used a quadrant set at 15 degrees (page 2)

www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/rotary-powered-welding-table-build.79338/

Thanks zzr i'll have a proper read when I get a minute, I see you have a lathe, No machining capabilities here so i'm having to build it around that slewing bearing.
I did think about huge bearing blocks but with the id i wanted they worked out way more than that i'm using.

 

[chip]

Worm gears ...blessing and a curse.

Thanks pal wouldn't mind seeing that if you still have it, I've got the worm gear on in a way where I can remove it if it becomes a ball ache .
Theres some changes to be made from that in the images.
Peddle and some other bits to arrive.
Indexing mode sounds interesting,would a stepper/driver and breakout board be needed for that and a bit of code?.I wouldn't know either.
I'll settle for forward and reverse for now

 

[hotponyshoes]

Thanks pal wouldn't mind seeing that if you still have it, I've got the worm gear on in a way where I can remove it if it becomes a ball ache .
Theres some changes to be made from that in the images.
Peddle and some other bits to arrive.
Indexing mode sounds interesting,would a stepper/driver and breakout board be needed for that and a bit of code?.I wouldn't know either.
I'll settle for forward and reverse for now

No idea how to set it up for indexing. I could probably make a wheel with teeth that flicks a switch at 90⁰ and probably work out the wiring for that.

A better way to do it would be a stepper or an encoder and some sort of controller.
The arduino type things are cheap and easy enough to learn but I'm not sure they'll work 100% around welding machines?

Set the foot pedal up for variable speed at least, that's far more useful than reverse

 

[chip]

It's starting to look like something,I did a little to it this morning,it's just sat on top of its square tube base in the pictures , some changes made. I'm still waiting for a few bits to turn up.

 

[chip]

Making progress,drilled through and welded big ole nuts in the feet and capped of the ends. its getting a bit too heavy to lug about now so I reckon ill mount it on a frame.

 

[chip]

Playing with ideas, I got the bodge/side worm gear sorted it works it's just a bit of 30mm box with a bit of overkill chopped up gate spring in there and a retaining clip holding it all in place.
For what those little gearbox's cost i'm half wishing i just plonked one of those on the side but too Impatient to wait for more post.
I thought about making some kind of cowling as a bit of protection for the back of turntable bearing, I had a bottom end of a gas bottle laying around so that's what you see sat in place unfinished, Im not 100% on using it id also like it to cover that ugly looking spring loaded ground and have the whole cover remove in one piece,i'll cut out some templates from cardboard and see.

 

[chip]

Not doing anymore today, I'm off to watch my beloved leicester city get relegated

 

[dieselsamurai]

looking good its one thing thats on my list , i was going to use this old rotary table but tilting would be handy

 

[chip]

Nice bit of kit there Diesel, I had planned to use of the vevor types but figured id need the help of a lathe to mount a motor to it ,which i don't have, it would have made things simpler

 

[chip]

Its up and running,its been a good learning experience, i need to put in a few hours practice before i risk welding anything critical.
Theres a lot i'd do differently if i were to build another,i used a 10 dollar controller to operate it ,im not a sparkie so im yet to figure out how if possible i can plumb in a foot peddle,thanks all.